Organizational Advancement
In 2022 Keep It Colorado partnered with the Land Trust Alliance to provide programming in response to increased coalition member demand for support advancing their organizational work. Learning that members are highly dedicated to expanding their work and missions to support community-centered conservation; becoming a more diverse, equitable and inclusive conservation movement; and sustaining their efforts as organizations of excellence in conservation, the partnership focused on providing support in these areas. In 2023, with generous funding from GOCO, Keep It Colorado and the Land Trust Alliance successfully delivered grants, learning sessions and a cohort program that helped land trusts act on their strong commitment to invest in their organizations and innovate new practices. In 2024 the partners are continuing these offerings, thanks to GOCO and new investments from the Gates Family Foundation.
2024 Programming
GRANTS
Keep It Colorado and the Land Trust Alliance are partnering to make $150,000 in grant funding available to land trusts and conservation nonprofits that are members of the Keep It Colorado coalition. Two grant categories are available:
Organizational Development Grants. Organizational development grants available in this grant cycle seek to increase the sustainability of individual organizations and the overall health of the land trust sector. The program will ensure the long-term viability and relevancy of land trusts and conservation nonprofits as they rise to meet new challenges facing their communities. Targeted grant investments will help these organizations achieve excellence in their operations and help them take the next steps in their organizational development and impact. They will allow land trusts and conservation nonprofits to pursue projects with emphasis in the following areas: Organizational planning, development, and sustainability; board and leadership training and development; communications and marketing; strategic conservation planning; fostering partnerships, peer networks, and collaboration; innovative projects for the land trust, nonprofit or conservation movement.
Total grant pool in this category: $75,000
Anticipated grant awards: $7,500 - $15,000 range
Deadline: Midnight March 26, 2024 (extended deadline)Eligible coalition members are invited to view the full grant guidelines and apply through the Land Trust Alliance’s online grant program.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) Grants. Diversity, equity, inclusion and justice grants available in this grant cycle are designed to increase equity in land conservation in Colorado. This grant opportunity has two focus areas: (1) advancing diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) for individual staff and board members and organizationally; and (2) developing and strengthening external work to help the organization create a more inclusive, open, community-centered organization along with DEIJ. The grant program will support the integration of community-centered conservation across all areas of DEIJ work. It builds on our commitment to ensuring that the principles of DEIJ are incorporated into all aspects of our conservation work, and to the goals of the “Community-centered Conservation & Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice” pillar of Conserving Colorado: A 10-year Roadmap for the Future of Private Land Conservation (published in spring 2023 by Keep It Colorado).
Total grant pool in this category: $75,000
Anticipated grant awards: $7,500 - $15,000 range
Deadline: Midnight March 26, 2024 (extended deadline)Eligible coalition members are invited to view the full grant guidelines and apply through the Land Trust Alliance’s online grant program.
Artist’s rendering of a community-centered conservation project at Coffman Ranch, courtesy Aspen Valley Land Trust.
LEARNING SESSIONS
Reformer Booker T. Washington, center, visits farmers in Dearfield , Colorado in the early 1900s. (Courtesy of University of Northern Colorado)
Relearning the History of Land Conservation
Keep It Colorado and the Land Trust Alliance are partnering to offer a virtual three-part series focused on systems mapping and communities; learning Black land history with a focus on Colorado; and action planning and resources. Virtual sessions will take place April 11 and 18 and May 2.
Presenters: Jasmine Parson Williams, Parsons-Williams Group and Ajiah Zywicki, Land Trust Alliance in Partnership with Keep It Colorado
To support Colorado’s land trust community in working to conserve private lands for the benefit of all Coloradans, these learning sessions use a wide lens to acknowledge the complex intersections of history and human experience in order to collectively understand the historical context and systems within which private land conservation exists.
For many, our understanding of history is incomplete, informed by simplified narratives of manifest destiny guiding our forefathers’ efforts to “tame” the West and waves of immigrants creating a grand melting pot. We now know that wasn’t the whole story, or even a particularly accurate story. We see time and again that those who hold power bury or brush aside painful and difficult events in American history and create systems that limit access to land and its benefits. Additionally, many narratives exclude the leadership and expertise of Black, Brown and Indigenous Peoples throughout the history of land conservation, including the history of Colorado.
This three-part series will discuss the structure of systems change, history of conservation and legacies of oppression that shape private land conservation today. Presenters will unlock key moments in history that shape private land ownership and the conservation landscape we work in today, focusing on Black history and experiences. We will explore strategies to understand these systems and advance equity in our conservation practice. We will take a new look at the common land conservation tools and explore past and current narratives that center Black connections to land and resilience.
Registration opens to Keep It Colorado and Land Trust Alliance members March 25, 2024.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND JUSTICE (DEIJ) COHORT
Keep It Colorado invites land trust members and conservation peers in Colorado to expand their skills, knowledge and confidence in weaving diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) into their conservation work – sharing successes and seeking solutions to shared challenges. Keep It Colorado is joining efforts with CORE Conservation Consulting, led by Travis Custer of Montezuma Land Conservancy, and Olga González of O.G. Consulting and Cultivando, to offer a new round of learning and connection through a peer-centered network – the Colorado DEIJ Cohort. In 2023, Keep It Colorado and the Land Trust Alliance partnered to create the Colorado DEIJ Cohort as a peer-learning experience especially designed for land trust board, leaders and staff and conservation partners working to advance DEIJ in their conservation work. This year, we’re pleased to continue our partnerships to deepen and expand our work together.
Members are invited to take the next steps!
Download an overview for information about this year's project focus, eligibility, program elements, cost and the application process.
Fill out a questionnaire indicating your interest (login required for our portal).
Attend the DEIJ Cohort convening on May 7, 2024, in Glenwood Springs for a day of learning, connection and project mapping. Registration opens March 1.
DEIJ cohort retreat participants 2023
“This work is the reason I made a recent career change into the land trust world and I think that, armed with this knowledge and support, I can start to make the difference that I was hoping to make in this space, and in our local communities.”
